Qantas will launch non-stop Boeing 787-9 flights between Perth and London from March 2018, in a move that will see the WA capital positioned as the airline's gateway for direct Dreamliner flights to Europe.

In addition to the 17 hour Perth-London trek, Qantas is also eying non-stop flights to Paris, Rome and Frankfurt on the airline's new Boeing 787-9.

These flights will run from the Qantas T3 domestic terminal at Perth, which will be upgraded to cater for international requirements such as immigration and quarantine.

This will allow Qantas passengers flying into Perth from other destinations – most likely Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane – to enjoy a seamless transfer without having to be shuttled between the domestic and international terminals.

Qantas' new Perth-London Boeing 787 route is tipped to begin in Melbourne, with the Melbourne-Perth leg flown by the same Boeing 787 as bound for London.

The Qantas Boeing 787-9 has less than half as many seats as the huge double-decker Airbus A380, and no first class suites.

"When Qantas created the Kangaroo Route to London in 1947 it took four days and nine stops, now it will take just 17 hours from Perth non-stop" said Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce in announcing the new flights.

"This is a game-changing route flown by a game-changing aircraft. Australians have never had a direct link to Europe before, so the opportunities this opens up are huge."

But the start of non-stop Perth-London flights could come at a cost, with Qantas drawing up plans to axe its daily Melbourne-Dubai-London service on the Airbus A380 superjumbo due to concerns the Australian market can't support three red-tailed flights to London.

Qantas' partner Emirates would fill the gap by rostering one of its own superjumbos rostered onto the Melbourne-Dubai route, with connections to London and other cities in the UK and Europe.

However, Joyce wouldn't reveal if pricing for the Perth-London service would be the same as the via-Dubai flights or if passengers would pay a premium for the convenience of a non-stop flight.

"You'll have until April (2017) when we come out with the pricing structure" Joyce teased Australian Business Traveller, although he maintained the fares would be "competitive" against other airlines.

How Qantas non-stop Perth-London flights will work

The Perth-London Boeing 787 service is expected to carry around 150,000 passengers per year.

Qantas expects a majority of Australian passengers to come from the eastern capital cities, choosing the Boeing 787 – with its smoother ride and jetlag-busting technology – and the direct Perth-London route over flying from Sydney or Melbourne via Dubai.

Those travellers will fly west on domestic Qantas services from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide, with Qantas "looking at the timing of our domestic flights through Perth to offer the best connections we can," Joyce says.

(At this stage we've heard no mention of a new Qantas International Lounge being built for Terminal 3.)

They'll then make their way to a newly-built T3 'international departures' area with customs and border security before boarding the Dreamliner via a special 'swing gate' walkway which can switch between domestic and international modes.

After that, it's just a matter of settling in for around 17 hours until they land at London's Heathrow Airport.

Qantas hasn't revealed the schedule for this globe-striding flight but given a 17 hour travel time between Perth and London, a mid-morning departure from Perth (not so easy for eastern state connections) would see arrival into London in the early evening; conversely, an evening departure from Perth would have the flight land at Heathrow around 5-6am.

A terminal tiff

Terminal upgrades such as the swing gate and international zone were sticking points in negotiations between Qantas and Perth Airport, with the airport pegging the bill at some $25 million and pushing for Qantas to instead use the international terminal.

Perth Airport and Qantas have since come to "an arrangement" on the upgrade costs, while West Australian state premier Colin Barnett is believed to have dipped into the state's coffers to pay for Australian Border Force staff to be rostered on at the domestic terminal.

The WA State Government will also put $14 million towards the infrastructure and fit-out required to upgrade T3 for international use, while Qantas will relocate its Perth-Singapore and Perth-Auckland flights from T1 to T3 to make best use of the facilities.

Barnett and WA business leaders have been effusive about the route's commercial benefits to Perth, primarily through inbound tourism on the leg from London, and the opportunity for Perth "to become the western gateway into Australia" via a series of non-stop Qantas flights such as London, Paris, Frankfurt and Rome.

For its part, Qantas has made an "in-principal agreement" to move all of its domestic and international flights to a new T1 pier by 2025, using a similar arrangement to Virgin Australia's T1 domestic pier which opened in 2015 (below).

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I agree that it will not be fun, but I think that I would still rather do 17.5 hours with an extra inch of pitch than 14.5 hours to Dubai with an inch less, and avoid the transfer hassle and hopefully more time in the lounge and the improved "atmospherics" of the Dreamliner.

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I don't get the fuss either; long flights are a norm these days. Singapore airlines flew the world longest ever from Newark to Singapore 18 hours no sweat. They and United are flying the Singapore to San Francisco now and United flies the 787; the world longest flight on a 787 at the moment.

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The last time I few in economy for 14 hours (SYD-LAX) I got extremely fidgety by hour 10 or 11, failed to sleep, and by hour 12 felt like I was going nuts and promised never, ever again! And that was on an aisle seat ... sitting in a middle seat would be like hell.

Sorry that I'm too precious for you. I'd only consider this in business class, otherwise happy to stop over and break it up, rather than being stuck in such a small confined seat surrounded by strangers for so long.

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It is that in Economy Qantas has moved away from the 2-4-2 configuration Boeing had in mind when they coined the term Dreamliner, ie. an aircraft promising more space, and with 3-3-3 has seats up to an inch narrower than on those flights, with more passengers per cabin crew members. It sounds like Qantas's PR, which heavily played up the Dreamliner tag conveniently forgetting it no longer applies to the LCC configuration, worked. Don't worry though, SYD-DFW will switch over to the Nightmareliner.

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As someone who has transited Europe to Australia via Dubai 30 times in the past 3 years, I can confirm there is NO immigration process in Dubai for transfer passengers - only a baggage security check, same as an international transfer in Melbourne or Sydney. It is one of the easiest and smoothest airports in the world to transfer in. Since you refer to "imagining" the "annoying immigration process", it's clear you've never flown it and so this comment above isn't fair.

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This is a win for passengers in one other way - the domestic business lounge at the domestic terminal at Perth is already far superior to the Qantas lounge at the International terminal. I'll look forward to this.

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To make PER-LHR, they will restrict seats and use extra fuel tanks I assume? QF 787-9 will have a total of 236 seats but with restrictions in place on the seats and the plane won't be 100% full, they will be carrying the same amount of PAX on a normal BNE-SYD route on a 737. Is it really that successful?

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I was wondering about that as well.The way Qantas has configured their 787s means that half of the plane is business/premium economy seating which means it isn't as dense with passengers (and their luggage) as plane that may have more economy seating, such as Jetstar.I wonder if the lower density still means full planes that can make the distance or will they, as you say, have to restrict cargo/passengers.And long term, will they put a A350/777x on the route?Time will tell!

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They would have to restrict seats. It's the only way they would be able to get the range increased enough to make the flight.

The Boeing quoted 787-9 range is 14,140 km.JAL quotes their 195 seat (44J 35W 116Y) 787-9 range at 14,400km.I don't see how they can get the needed range for PER-LHR (14,499 km) with more seats then the JAL config.

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From non-PER Australia to non-LHR Europe, I'd still prefer to go via DXB. Even PER to non-LHR Europe I'd be tempted. Two long flights with an easy transit is preferable to one very long one bookended by two short ones, at least one of which (LHR) will likely be both a pain, and backtracking.

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Who in their right mind will LOVE go via DXB? Not me this is for sure. And besides EK is famous for incredibly "convenient" arrival/departure times like 2am. I am not interested, thanks and rather go via SIN/BKK/HKG.

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International flights out of the common use Adelaide airport terminal require you to pass through customs about half an hour before boarding starts. I have had to cool my heels at the gate for an hour waiting for Emirates flights. On the other hand SingAir have an airside lounge with is wonderful. Qantas are being a bit too greedy with this and the passenger experience will be well down on flying the kangaroo route. But a great opportunity for WA. International tourists will give it a go, like flying a budget carrier out of Nice and vow never to do it again.

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I can't see Qantas axing QF9/10 as one of the major benefits for Emirates in the partnership is the A380 into LHR and the amount of seats it has. As Emirates can not fly anyone more seats into LHR without paying some serious money for additional landing slots. I believe Qantas has leased to BA the slots that they would use for the Perth flight

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I'm no expert but I assume that QF9/10 will have to be axed if Qantas have given up their slots at LHR. If that's the case they will have to give up one of their services in to LHR. Perhaps your idea of QF9/10 serving FRA CDG or perhaps even AMS is a possibility connecting in DXB. It would be good to see Qantas serving more destinations in Europe after Joyce axed so many.

The mists of time may be clouding this statement but until relatively recently QF used to fly through HKG, SIN and BKK to LHR and also through SIN to FRA. Though all from SYD. Perhaps QF9/10 serving elsewhere is the plan.

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Qantas just want the prestige of being first to fly Australia to UK nno stop! Couldn't care less about their passengers. Melbourne passengers will desert them in droves! And what happens when Perth closes due weather - whats the alternate?

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I am a bit perplexed with QF saying that they don't think its possible to sustain the MEL-LHR flight alongside the PER-LHR flight, yet Emirates are pretty quick to fill the gap along with their gazillion other flights from Australia through DXB and on to LHR or LGW. Also, I wonder if PER-LHR could/will see a revisit of codeshares between LHR and Europe between BA and QF. Now that would be good and maybe stop the tit for tat nonsense BA keeps pulling because they are so upset with QF aligning with EK.

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Regular service just means that it will be always operating no matter the seasons, etc. A flight can be daily, five weekly or even thrice weekly and still considered regular as long as the flight is not a charter flight.

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Has nothing to do with that point, if EK is jumping in to fill the gap QF are leaving with a DXB flight then why wouldnt QF fly at least to DXB. That's the question. Nothing to do with flying non-stop to LHR.

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Colin Barnett says 14 flights a week which i assume is a double daily service which might explain why qf is cancelling mel-lhr as they might need the landing slots @ lhr? And they'll get back a slot they lease to BA?

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As I've seen mentioned elsewhere 14 flights a week likely means 7 in each direction i.e. a daily service. 14 flights a week sounds a lot better than a daily service, but it's probably the same thing. It would be good to have some clarification either way from QANTAS on this.

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I had assumed that plan would include an international lounge in the T3/T4 complex. Qantas have made a big issue of not bussing passengers between terminals, so surely they would not have them using a lounge prior to passport control.

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I would think so. Either they would sell the PE seat with a new domestic PE bucket or perhaps offer it as an upgrade or op-up for higher status travellers as availability permits. They wouldn't want to jeopardise PE sales for the international sector.

Of course those flying on to LHR in PE should get to fly it on the domestic sector as well if hopping onto the 787 in MEL.

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The 787s will add new routes and also likely replace some 747s eventually. QANTAS will decide on the routes and timing that suits them.

The A380s will need refurbishing even if it just means replacing seating e.g. putting the new 787 (or better) J seats in the A380. So if an A380 service is cancelled in my opinion that would be the ideal time to start that process. If the PER to LHR route fails badly they may be able to start the cancelled A380 service again once done with refurbishing. I hope they refurbish all the A380s so that consistency can be achieved once the refurbishment is complete. It's very poor that a few 747s still have J seats that don't lie flat.

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Being able to do RTW to cover all my family and business bases almost entirely on QF metal and without having to transit in DXB is going to be glorious! Doing my regular MEL-SYD-JFK-LHR-PER-BNE-SYD-MEL run is about to get a whole better with the PER-LHR non-stop service.

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Just a reminder: please keep comments on topic, such as discussing this route (and your take on it, where or not you'd fly it, the Perth domestic arrangements etc) and adding value to the conversation.

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So what?.........and just one destination in Europe!...........fly via Aia, pick just about any city..............great airlines better product and great value prices. Too little too late.............QF is largely irrelevant to me as a business traveller.

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Maybe they could create a partnership with oneworld partner Finnair.Run PER-HEL (13,085 km), much more doable then the 14,500km to LHR, with connections into EU on AY.

The 'issue' with QF going to EU via Asia is there are limits to how many through flights they are allowed depending on the port with 5th freedom in the air service agreements. eg, they can only have 14 flights/week to Europe from HKG.

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Non-stop to LHR is still a surprise. I would have thought a better option would be a flight from Perth to Dubai, then onwards to Frankfurt, picking up east coast passengers there.

Still, very exciting to see Perth become a hub and the non-stop to LHR should prove very popular. A lot will depend on how they configure Terminal 3. It still looks like a LCC terminal, but the convenience of the short unhurried walk from the T4 lounges should make it far more attractive than a Sydney or Melbourne transfer onto the A380s.

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Would have thought Darwin would push more at making a hub to Europe,a bit like DXB has, I'm sure the N.T. Government would have thrown some money at such a project. It seems more practical than hubing Perth.

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I think this is great news for Perth and possibly Adelaide and Melbourne (for passengers in favour of this new route). I think it could be popular with tourists flying into Australia via the west coast and departing via the east coast (or vice versa). I think the timing of the flights will be important and whether you can "sleep" on a plane as to whether passengers prefer this route. For us, we can't really sleep so this route is not for us. We will favour routes up to 13-15 hours. We are in Brisbane. When flying to Europe we would prefer to fly via Hong Kong, Japan or Singapore and have a stop-over. There is some speculation that Qantas will also look at making Perth a hub and commencing routes to another destinations in Europe. If Perth to London works, then that could be a good idea. However, I would hope that the next dreamliner routes to be announced are not via Perth but rather via Sydney, Brisbane or Melbourne (to the US or Asia).

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Difficult not to see this in terms of a vanity project by Qantas in linking Aus to the UK direct. But the long tease on the dreamliner from Qantas is becoming tiring. I'm sure the numbers must add up, but the thought of sitting in economy for 17 hours is horrific. Yes the seats have 1'' more pitch, but they also very narrow at just over 17.. Everyone will be different of course, and I am sure there is a market for those who need to get to their destination as soon as practical. However if you are on the east coast, and unless the feeder domestic flight is very well timed.. it may be well be cheaper, healthier and quicker to spend an hour walking around SIN or DXB to stretch the legs.

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I flew with TG on an A340-500 when they flew LAX-BKK non-stop, a similar distance to PER-LHR. Thai's seat pitch in Y for those flights was 36" and in PE, which I flew, 42". It was more than bearable -- although Thai lost money on each and every flight, hence the reason the non-stops ceased.

Having flown on a 787-8 with the same seat pitch Qantas is boasting about for the 787-9, I don't think I will be a candidate for the new route, even if the UK was my preferred European destination. From Melbourne, it's much easier to take flights of more sensible duration via SIN, HKK or BKK, as other posters have suggested.

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Although strictly only a business flier in the type of experience I would prefer-I have to visit Australia to see sons-,who are on East + West coast-and have had varied experiences with both Emirates + Qantas on the 2 return trips I have had during the last 3 years. I should be thrilled with the idea of non stop, but unless Perth improves its capability in terms of immigration staffing-it won't matter how much you have paid- it all gets terrible when you join a long queue on arrival. I hope increasing the staffing will help-but remain unconvinced !

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As the flights have been shifted away from the international terminal to the Qantas domestic side of the runway you shouldn't experience the woeful under-staffing of Immigration that most pax experience in Perth.

Would be such an easy thing to fix but causes such damage to our reputation as a destination.

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I'm a bit unsure on this one. Possibly good news for Perth but I can't see pax flying in from the east coast for this service. It's approx 5.5 hrs from BNE giving approx 23hrs flight times plus transit in Perth. Just like new coke, it seems a good idea but for eastern seabord dwellers it doesn't make sense. Similar flight times on the spacious EK A380 via DXB are available and frequent. Interested to see what the cost will be.

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Doing the maths on PER becoming a hub for LHR flights, means it's 4 hours 5 minutes MEL - PER. Assume a 2 hour turn around time for the 787 in Perth, you then have a 23 hour trip. So you save an hour, which is good. So long as there are no delays etc.

But your transit is PER QF Domestic as apposed to some of the best airports in the world for transit ie Dubai, Singapore, Hong Kong. Plus with those you get to stop over and stretch your legs around a third - mid way through your trip.

If I was in business, I'd consider it. But otherwise no way. And just wait for the competition to discount fares from PER to LHR via their hubs once this goes ahead.